Lawrence Cluderay

Lawrence (Rushby) Cluderay. Organist, choir conductor, critic, b Leeds 1 Dec 1907; FRCO, ARCM. He studied in England with H.P. Richardson and Sir Edward Bairstow. He emigrated to Canada in 1947 and settled in Vancouver, where, save for a short stay 1960-1 in Calgary, he remained.

Cluderay, Lawrence

Lawrence (Rushby) Cluderay. Organist, choir conductor, critic, b Leeds 1 Dec 1907; FRCO, ARCM. He studied in England with H.P. Richardson and Sir Edward Bairstow. He emigrated to Canada in 1947 and settled in Vancouver, where, save for a short stay 1960-1 in Calgary, he remained. He served as organist-choirmaster at St Andrew's-Wesley United Church and at St John's (Shaughnessy) and St Stephen's Anglican churches in Vancouver, and at Christ Church, Elbow Park, in Calgary. He reviewed concerts for the Calgary Herald and Albertan and 1966-73 for the Vancouver Province. He contributed 1954-73 to the CBC programs 'Music Diary,' 'Critics at Large,' and 'Record Review'. He served 1950-9 as director of the Vancouver Bach Choir, and the English traditions he maintained had a lasting effect on the choir's repertoire and style of performance. Notable among his achievements were the Easter performances of Bach's St Matthew Passion at St Andrew's-Wesley Church and his preparation of the choir for the CBC's 1957 broadcast of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. He retired in 1973.